Kidnapping in the Pacific: or, The Adventures of Boas Ringdon

“The chiefs were then brought on deck. They did not look much like chiefs, half-starved and dirty as they were, for they had been kept below during the voyage for fear of their jumping overboard, and making their escape. The natives set up a loud yell when they saw them, and made as if they would attack us, and try to rescue them. On this the captain ordered us to present our muskets, and fire if they approached. Bill was the only person who refused to obey, declaring that it was a shame, and that he would sooner let the natives kill us than shoot one of them. The captain, hearing this, threatened to trice him up with the chiefs, and to my mind he meant what he said. The natives, however, thought better of it, and paddled off to try to get more pearls.

”‘It’s lucky for you, Bill, that the savages played us no tricks; but I’ll not forget you, my lad,’ exclaimed the captain, shaking his fist at him.

“In a couple of days the natives appeared paddling towards us. They kept, however, at a distance, and one canoe only with three men in her came alongside, bringing a few pearls. They said they had got more, but they had resolved to throw them into the sea unless their chiefs were first delivered up to them.

“The captain grinned at this, and replied that they should have one chief, and when the pearls were brought they should have the other. The natives after talking a long time were obliged to comply. The chiefs embraced; they might have suspected that the one who remained would run a great chance of swinging at the yardarm, notwithstanding the captain’s promise. At last he told the younger of the two that he might go, thinking, probably, that he was of less consequence than the other. The poor fellow was lowered into the canoe, and away his countrymen paddled to the shore.

“I thought that the elder man looked well pleased at the escape of his companion, as he squatted down on deck, resting his head on his hands, though he looked up every now and then at the rope hanging from the yardarm, as if he expected to be dangling from it before long.

“The same canoe returned in a couple of hours, bringing a further supply of pearls, while the rest of the natives were seen gathering in the distance.

“Perhaps the captain thought that if he did not deliver up the chief – driven to desperation, they might attack the vessel, and that though many might have been killed, we should not have got off scathless. The natives were indeed in great numbers advancing closer and closer. He therefore told the chief he might go. The old man rose, and with the help of his countrymen got into the canoe, which immediately paddled away towards the rest, advancing rapidly to meet him.

“The breeze was fair out of the harbour. Sails were loosed, the anchor tripped. There was no time to be lost, for some scores of canoes were close up to us.

”‘Give the savages a parting volley to teach them that we are not to be insulted with impunity,’ cried the captain.

“Several shots were fired at the canoes, and two or three of the savages were hit. I cannot say whether all fired, but Bill did not.

“The brig had gathered way, and we were distancing the canoes, and though the captain ordered another volley to be fired, the shot fell short of them.

”‘We have managed that pretty cleverly,’ he observed, as he walked the deck, rubbing his hands. ‘I never expected to get so many pearls, and we have not paid dear for them either,’ and he chuckled to himself as he turned aft.

“I asked Bill if he had got as many as he had hoped for.

”‘No,’ he answered. ‘The skipper kept too sharp a look-out to allow me to trade honestly as I had intended, and I’d sooner not have got a single one, than obtain them in the vile abominable way he has done. I wish that I was clear of the craft, and hope that I may never set eyes on him again.’

“I told Bill that he was too particular.

”‘No, no,’ he exclaimed. ‘I am a vile wretch as it is, but I am not sunk so low as to stand by and see such things done without exclaiming against them.’

“We had a quick run to the westward, and the captain was congratulating himself on making a prosperous voyage. We had still room, however, for some more sandal-wood, and he took it into his head to visit the place where he had given a couple of dozen to a native chief for refusing to bring off sandal-wood. He was mad, you will allow, to make the attempt. He thought he could catch the chief, and play the trick a second time.

“Bringing up before the place, and telling us to keep our arms ready for use, and to let no native on board, away he went in the boat with six hands well armed. The natives, instead of running off, came down to the beach quite in a friendly manner, and welcomed him on shore. He thought, I suppose, that they did not know the brig again, or that the chief had forgotten his flogging.

“We watched him from the deck, and he and two men advanced up the beach towards the very chief himself, who came down to meet him.

“The captain’s idea was, I have no doubt, to seize the chief and bring him off.

“In another instant we saw one of the men running, and a party with clubs and spears, who had remained hidden behind some rocks, rushing towards the captain. Before he could escape, his brains were dashed out, and his companion was struck to the ground. The other man reached the boat with a spear in his back, and was hauled in just before the savages got up to him. The boat shoved off and pulled away towards us, a shower of spears following her. Another man was hit, for we saw an oar dropped. The remaining three pulled away for their lives. We, meantime, loosed the sails and got under way; and time it was to do so, for we saw a number of canoes, which had been concealed behind rocks along the shore, darting out towards us. As soon as the boat was alongside, we hauled up the men, one of whom was pretty near dead by that time, cut the cable, let the boat go adrift – we had no time to hoist her up – sheeted home the sails, and stood away from the shore.

“We had a narrow escape of it, for though we kept firing at the advancing canoes, they were almost up to us; and it’s my belief the savages would have got on board in spite of all we could have done to resist them, for they seemed resolved to have their revenge. As it was, another man was hit, and our deck was covered with spears and darts.

“We at last got clear of the land, and the mate, who took command, said he would shape a direct course for Sydney, and have nothing more to do with trading. We soon, however, began to suspect that he was but a poor navigator, and Bill said he was sure of it.

“Three or four days afterwards a gale sprung up from the westward. We lost our topmasts, and were driven before it for a week or more.

“Whether or not the mate was a bad navigator, we had no means of proving, for one night he was washed overboard. Bill, who was the only scholar among us, looked at the log; that had not been written up, nor had our course on the chart been pricked off; so there we were, driving before a heavy gale, and not knowing what island might be in our course to bring us up. The brig also had sprung a leak, and we had to turn-to at the pumps. Our provisions and water were running short. We were in a bad case. Even had we sighted an island, we should have been afraid to go ashore, for we had played so many tricks at different places, that, after what had happened, we thought that we might be treated in the same way as the captain had been.

“The gale at length came to an end. Still we had to keep the pumps going. Our last biscuit was eaten; we had not a drop of water in the casks. Bill, who had been studying the chart, told us that if we would keep up our spirits he hoped in another day or two to make an island to the southward, where we had not before touched. That night, however, there came on a dead calm.

“When the sun rose the next morning the sea was like glass, with not a sign of a breeze.

“When men are starving they will eat anything. We began to stew down our shoes and every bit of leather we could find about the ship. The lockers were searched for biscuit crumbs, or lumps of grease, or anything eatable, till nothing which could keep body and soul together remained.

“The men knew that Bill and I were friends. I heard them talking together and casting looks at him. He was thin enough, poor fellow, by this time; but the rest of us were thinner still, all bones and sinews. Bill and I were on deck together, and I told him to keep by me when I saw the rest of the men coming aft with a glare in their eyes, the meaning of which I well knew. Telling Bill to keep behind me, I drew my knife, and swore I would kill the first man who advanced. Jos Noakes came on in front of the rest. He had not forgotten the knock-over Bill had given him; still I had little hopes of saving my friend, for when men are desperate they will do anything. Jos was close up to me, and though I might have killed him the rest would have set on me; when just then the sails gave a loud flap, and some of the men, looking round, cried out that there was a fresh breeze coming.

”‘My lads,’ cried Bill, who, though the moment before he expected nothing but death, was suddenly himself again, ‘that breeze will take us to the island we were steering for in the course of a few hours. You may eat me if you like, but I don’t think you will find your way there without my help.’

“The men saw the sense of this, and told him he had nothing to fear. While he and I went to the helm, the rest trimmed sails, and we were soon running at a brisk rate through the water.

“Fortunately, some small casks of hams which had got stowed away under the sandal-wood were discovered. This satisfied our hunger, though it increased our thirst. The wind, however, brought rain, and we were able to collect enough water to keep us alive. We thought all would go well, in spite of the leak, which made it still necessary to keep the pumps at work.

“Bill and I had just come on deck at night for our middle watch, when just as he had been telling me that he hoped next morning to make the land, the vessel’s keel grated on a coral reef which the look-out had not discovered. On she drove, and I hoped might be forced over it, but the grating, tearing sound which came from below told me that the sharp points were ripping off her planks, and the rest of the crew, springing on deck, cried out that the water was rushing in on every side. We clewed up the sails, and got our only boat ready for launching.

“The wind was increasing, and forcing us further and further on the reef. As we could not tell in what direction to pull, we determined to remain till morning, but before the morning arrived the wind increased, and the sea broke over us. The mainmast went by the board, and most of the men cried out that if we did not get the boat in the water we should be lost.

“Bill and I had gone forward. I heard some loud cries. My shipmates had managed to launch the boat, but the next instant she had been swamped alongside, and they were struggling for their lives in the foaming sea. We clung on to the wreck. The sea was making a complete breach over her, and the after part appeared breaking up. Suddenly she swung round, and seemed to me to be slipping off the rock. At that moment a sea took me, striking me on the head, knocking the senses out of me; the next I found myself in the foaming waters, and looking up, the moon bursting forth just then, caught sight of Bill making his way up the fore-rigging. I sung out to him to heave me a rope and haul me on board. The vessel appeared to have been brought up by a lower part of the reef, and to be sticking there. Bill heard my voice, and unreefing the fore brace, hove it to me just as a sea washed me back towards the wreck. I caught hold of it when pretty nigh exhausted, for though I hadn’t had much enjoyment in life, I didn’t wish to leave it, and so clung on with all my strength, while Bill gradually hauled me up to the fore chains. From thence I made my way into the top, where he and I sat, expecting, however, every moment that the mast would go and carry us overboard.

”‘Are the rest all lost, think you?’ asked Bill.

”‘No doubt about it,’ said I. ‘The boat could not have lived a minute in such a sea as there is running. We are better off even here.’

”‘Terrible,’ said Bill. ‘And you and I are left alone out of the whole lot.’

”‘We may thank our stars for that,’ said I. ‘And I say, Bill, if we hold out till morning, and it comes on calm, maybe we shall find some of the pearls, and after all it won’t be so bad a job for us.’

”‘Don’t talk of the pearls,’ he answered, with a groan. ‘I wish that I had never been tempted to try to get them. The captain and the rest have got their deserts, and I would not touch one of them, gained as they were by cruelty and fraud, if they were to be washed up into my hands.’

”‘I only wish I could catch sight of some of the boxes with the chance of getting them,’ said I. ‘And if you were to do so, Bill, I would not trust to your good resolutions.’

”‘I don’t want to talk about the matter,’ answered Bill, gloomily. ‘What chance have we of getting away from the wreck? we may be miles off from the shore, for what I know.’

”‘If the wind goes down, we may build a raft and reach the land, or may be a vessel will pass by and take us off. If not, and it breezes up again, we shall be in a bad case.’

“Bill groaned again.

”‘I am not prepared to die,’ he exclaimed. ‘I would give anything to get on shore.’

”‘You haven’t anything to give,’ said I. ‘So you had better make up your mind to brave it out, just as I mean to do. I wish that I could get at some liquor, though; that would keep up our spirits better than anything else.’

“Bill groaned again.

”‘I don’t want to die like a brute with my senses gone,’ he answered.

”‘As to that, seamen have to go out of the world somehow, and for my part I don’t think myself worse than the rest,’ I answered; ‘and with regard to the things done aboard this craft, that was the captain’s look out, not mine, nor yours either; so cheer up, Bill, don’t be down-hearted. Daylight will soon return, and then, may be, we shall find ourselves better off than we fancy.’

“You see, I kept up my spirits, and tried to keep up Bill’s; but he got worse and worse, and began raving away so curiously, that I thought he would throw himself into the sea and get drowned.